Banks come and go,
but buildings remain

The 1887 Donaldson and Hosmer Building at 318 E. Main St., most recently home to Baldwin law offices, originally was home to two banks —First National Bank of Marion until 1899, when it was replaced by State Bank of Commerce. The bank remained until the late 1940s, when it was replaced by a series of restaurants and later by law offices.

Named for First National Bank’s cashier and one of his business partners, a New Hampshire financier. Together they operated a series of separate lending firms.

First National Bank moved three doors east to relocate to the building when the building opened in 1887. The bank’s former home was the westernmost of four identical buildings, two of which are shown at left in this photo. They stretched to the corner of 3rd and Main St., current home of Marion National Bank.

The third of these buildings, at far left in this photo, survives as the home of Barely Makin’ It Antiques along with the Donaldson and Hosmer Building, now vacant.

In 1887, the building also housed the YMCA, which later had its own building a block to the east.

At the time of the building’s construction, the Record wrote:

“Among the many fine business buildings in Marion, the pre-eminence must be accorded the elegant new bank building erected by Messrs. Donaldson and Hosmer, and now occupied by the First National Bank, of which Mr. Donaldson is cashier.

“The building is 25x100 feet in size, two stories with fine basement, and modern architecture.

“The front is costly and beautiful, and the internal finish, the frescoed ceiling, the tiled floor, the fine bank furniture is scarcely equaled and hardly surpassed in the state, and other features of excellence make it a bank building worth any city in the land.”